Surviving The World
by PlennyCinna
Summary: It's only when you have everything you ever wanted...that it all slips away...
1. Prologue : Magic

**Woohoo! my first fanfic.. awesome. Ive like been attempting to write this frigging thing since god knows when and finally..finally..here it is!**

**First of all this is just the prologue as the title (so very obviously) shows. Its not all that interesting at the beginning (I guess). It's sorta like the starting of Eragon (which is utterly boring).**

** chapter (prologue ) is about ten years behind the actual story line for reasons you'll find out if you become a dedicated fan and read the new chapter which I'll attempt to write every week.**

**'s a a multi POV.**

** will be mature scenes later which will be posted in another fanfic (for ppl who like the story but not M scenes.)**

** thats just about it. you guys better write reviews. **

Prologue: Magic

Isabel walked aimlessly in the forest. Her aunt Marian had passed into the void but a month ago and had told her and her twin brother, Eragon, a secret that had thrown the most permanent and unquestionable of things into doubt. She wasn't their mother, nor was Garrow their father or Roran their brother. They were their aunt, uncle and cousin. This revelation had raised many more questions than it answered though. For instance, why had their mother left them? Where had she been? And the most difficult one of all, who was their father? She was lost, utterly and completely, in the unpiercable darkness of doubt.

She was, however, not alone. For she also had Eragon, who was just as lost as she was, and the sometimes spent long hours trying to figure out their heritage together somehow. But it was, obviously, impossible for two five year olds to figure out the answers to the questions which had evaded Garrow too. Of all things though, what troubled her most was Eragon's hurt. She would bear any amount of pain to stop him from being hurt. Always. But nowadays, she knew he had been crying, for she had too. Though they tried not to think about it, they both had a nagging suspicion that they had not been good enough for their mother.

_But then she could have been someone important too couldn't she?_ But the chances of that were even less than those of finding diamonds in a pig trough. It was a possibility though, considering she had come back in fine clothes and her hair had been bound in a net of pearls. Marian had kept them with her for safekeeping because since Selena had left them in Carvahall, they were now a part of her inheritance. Since Marian had died, they had moved to Garrow's ancestral home. The farm had been unoccupied for the better part of the century till a few weeks ago. It was old but not decrepit. Yet. It was spring right now, her favorite season. She just loved the feel of the moist and fertile soil of the farm and the flowers in full bloom. It was also her and Eragon's birthday in a couple of months.

She was elder than Eragon, though only by a few minutes. It was a little enjoyable, knowing that she was elder than him, but she was more responsible than him too. While Eragon and Roran joked about together she always found something to keep herself busy with. Roran, though older than the two of them was a just as immature as Eragon was at times. But just because she was always busy, it didn't mean that she didn't wrestle about and play with them too. But only rarely.

She was in a foul mood today. The two of them, Eragon and Roran, had plotted to soil her only doll and had succeeded. They were now busy washing the clothes as punishment. They had complained, saying that she was the girl so she should be the one doing it but Garrow had told them that it being a life skill must be learnt and practiced. The doll had been made by Marian a year ago with a few rags, but still treasured by her. She was slightly happy that they had been punished but was still angry at them.

The doll had been that of a dragon, which, she thought was perfect because she had always had a fascination with them. She often visited the village storyteller, Brom, to ask him about everything to do dragons. They were such magnificent creatures, with glittering scales that came in every colour and their own differing personalities. She envied people who had lived in the time the dragons had thrived, the age of the riders. She thought back to the last time she had visited him, he had seemed rather happy about meeting her, like he always did.

A twig snapped somewhere and she looked up from her musings. For the first time she realized that she was in the forest. She walked on till she reached a clearing. It was getting dark, but she could dimly see clumps of wildflowers that dotted the whole clearing. Among the flowers, there flitted a few fireflies. The scene was beautiful. It was completed by the dim outline of a fallen tree that was covered in moss. She tried very hard not to but couldn't help it as her lips slowly lifted in a gentle smile. _Flawless_, she thought, _truly flawless._

Walking up to a fallen log in the middle of the clearing , she scraped off as much of the clinging moss as she could before sitting down. Garrow had told her not to stay out in the forest too late or to go too deep into it either, she, sadly, found it difficult to stop herself from doing something she had been told not to. It was a habit she had developed a couple of years earlier and it had continued to this day. Though nothing she was proud of, it was a habit that made every day more interesting than the other. Sometimes, even Garrow had trouble dealing with her unacceptable behavior. She could remember, though only dimly, an incident of hers' with Marian about a year ago. She had decided to ask Marian to make her clothes like Eragon and Roran's. She had known that Marian would refuse from the start and had stuck to her resolve because everyone had told it was wrong for a girl to wear the clothes of men. But statements like those had just made her more reluctant to give in. Finally after a couple of weeks Marian had realized that attempting to refuse her were useless and had finally given in.

The clearing suddenly went very quiet. The crickets stopped chirping and the fireflies were nowhere to be seen. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. She looked around for the source of the fear of the creatures of the clearing. It was empty. She shuddered and silently prayed it was not a wolf. Though she knew that they only lived in the higher ups of the spine it was not uncommon for a few to wander too far away from their homes in search of food. She had never seen a wolf and hoped that she wouldn't have to today either. She suddenly heard a slight grunt behind her and turned to see a large urgal behind her.

X.o.X.o.X.o.X.o

Brom slammed shut the door behind him and turned to lock it. He had many valuables inside and would loath to lose any of them. But of all his possessions the one he valued most was the sword of his once friend, later nemesis Morzan, Zar'roc. _Misery_, he thought sourly as he walked down a well worn path that led into the forest. Misery was the meaning of Zar'roc, though the reason why anyone would want to name their sword as such escaped him, but misery was the only thing that sword of his had caused. And the most, he felt, had been his.

He was rather ashamed of the way he had let Morzan order him about and that he, instead of rebelling, had, quite foolishly, followed him like a lost puppy. He had held his illusion of Morzan being the most powerful and righteous person till the day news reached his ears that he had joined Galbatorix. Galbatorix, the man who had torn apart the riders and their golden reign with the help of thirteen more riders, the Forsworn as they were later called.

Even after Morzan had joined him, Brom had harbored a slight hope that Galbatorix had learnt their true names and was thus manipulating them. This futile hope of his had shattered though, when he had seen Morzan kill mercilessly and joyously the men and women he had once fought alongside with. He had even tried to reason with him later but his attempts had proved useless as all Morzan had done was to laugh at him. The mad ma n then caused him more pain than he had ever known. He had killed the partner of his heart, Saphira.

After her death, he had finally understood Galbatorix's anger. Though the ones he had directed his hatred towards had not deserved it, he still empathized with the man's pain. The only difference however, was that while the anger of the self-proclaimed king was towards the riders, Brom rightfully blamed Morzan.

Losing his dragon was not the most painful of things he had been through, for, a few years after the painful incident; he had come across a rather attractive maiden, Selena. She was the feared Black Hand and also Morzan's consort. It was a wise choice because taking into mind that the woman had loved the tyrant, she would never betray him. Unless he could change that. That had been the very line of his thoughts till he had actually met the woman. She had been proud and cold yet gentle and kind and from the moment their eyes met, he knew he could love no other. But he had lost her too... though not at a stranger's hand but his own. He had caused Selena's demise, and his own grief.

Through the foliage, Brom thought he saw a swish of brown. A brown that had belonged to Selena. His eyes widened and he swallowed through a lump in his throat before he realized who it had been. His daughter, Isabel. He smiled at his own foolishness, Selena had died five years ago, and the dead never come back. Wherever this girl went, he decided, he would protect her, even if it was to be from Galbatorix himself.

Isabel had been following a trail that led deep into the woods, causing Brom to frown. Garrow should not have allowed her to leave the farm at such late hours for the woods were dangerous. She might get lost, encounter wolves, foxes, or even worse, the lone Urgal he knew roamed the woods at times, looking for food. Brom had known of the Urgal for a few weeks now and though he had left his cottage for days at a time, never had he ever come across the creature. Aye, he had felt his mind, but the monster had always managed to evade him. These reasons, he decided, were enough for him to quietly follow her till she decided to leave. A twig snapped beneath hi s foot and he silently cursed. The last thing he wanted was his own daughter to fear him.

He looked around only to find that she was out of his sight. Knowing it would be foolish to attempt to find her on foot, he found a log. Sitting on it, he cautiously removed the barriers around his mind and allowed his consciousness to engulf the clearing, and slowly a large circle about half a mile in radius. He searched till he finally came across her mind and was surprised to find it shielded. She shouldn't have known how to protect her thoughts at such a young age, unless...

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud wail of terror from the direction he knew Isabel would be.

X.o.X.o.X.o.X.o .

Isabel pressed against the large trunk blocking her only escape from the hideous monster in front of her. She knew it was an urgal from the many times Brom had told her about them. After seeing the urgal, she had run for dear life in the opposite direction. She had known it was a hopeless attempt to outrun it but she had still tried. Even though she had run as fast as she could, the creature had kept up with her with evident ease.

She had run till she came across the tree trunk blocking her way before turning to face the creature. She now looked around for something she might be able to use as defense against the hulking form of the urgal. She suddenly remembered the small throwing knife Brom had given her the last time she had visited him. She eyed the urgal cautiously, but it was evident that the metal would never be able to pierce its hide.

Knowing the attempt was futile, but refusing to give up, she slowly reached down to her right boot where she knew her small blade would be. The feel of the cold metal against her hand was comforting, if only the slightest bit. She took a deep, measured breath and pictured exactly what she would have to do before whipping it out and throwing the knife where the monster's heart was supposed to be. The blade hit its mark, only to fall to the ground, useless. The urgal then made a strange noise in his throat, confusing her._ It's laughing_, she realized. Laughing at her hopeless attempt to save her life. This just enraged her. A hideous animal like him was laughing at her trying to defend herself. No one had ever laughed at her before and that an urgal was now doing it, only made he her angrier. Her rage had now reached a bursting point and it did break free.

She felt a barrier in her mind break, before words unbidden came to her lips, "Letta!", she screamed and had a brief moment of satisfaction, as the urgal's features contorted into those of fear. The urgal fell to the ground with a loud thump, dead. It was only then that a wave of exhaustion swept over her, making the world hazy. She thought she saw Brom's face amid the tree trunks of the forest before the darkness took her into its warm and sweet embrace.

**Hope u liked it. Love it if ppl wrote reviews. :D**


	2. Chapter 1 : Return

**Sup guys! I know it's been a long time since I uploaded but I'm so not gonna** **be blamed fo it. I had the 5 letter extreme stress word hanging over my head E X A M S. Sucky huh.I wrote this chapter within like, 3 hours coz I really wanted to get on with the story so don't blame me if it's worse than Rebecca Black singing. Blame the fact that all my electronic stuff was confiscated *wipes tears* ( even my ipod, so u can imagine how deprived I was).**

**Also, lets face it guyz, u hate giving reviews dont u? After all, it sorta shows considering only 2 ppl reviewed *puts on angry face mask*. U better start reviewing or I'm officially gonna brand u all the term "DWEEB".( No seriously, I will. )**

**I don't mind if u guyz flame this shit, coz thats what it really is (more or less) (But I still want reviews!) This chapter is relatively short (about 2,000 words long) but then and again, I was in a hurry.**

**Stuff u shud noe:**

** 1. This chapter is like, a decade after the prologue, in line wid d storyline. **

**2.I was in a hurry so I am NOT, NOT gonna be blamed if its a piece o' crap.  
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**Oooh I almost forgot:**

**DISCLAIMER: I am C.P. and I own the Inheritance Cycle and it's characters.**

**_ERROR:Excess of sarcasm on the screen. Kindly wipe it off or your P.C. will shut down in 5...4...3..._**

**_K... so on advice of Restrained Freedom, I just thought u guys shud noe some extra stuff:_**

**_1. This chapter is just to get totally crude points into ur head coz I didnt have enough time for beautification ._**

**_2. Crude points? yeah this is them: a) Isabel is alive...b)This is not a dream she has after killing the urgal...c) Uh, find this one on ur own, I've underlined it._**

**_3.**_.I noe I left loads of stuff in between, but I'm just dying to get to the interesting part._**_**

**Chapter 1: Return**

Isabel forced her eyes open. The sun was just rising, as she knew it would. The monotony of life made her want to scream out in frustration. Day after day, week after week, life in Carvahall never seemed to be different. In the day, she would help out on the farm and in the night, Brom and Oromis would teach her about magic, fighting and such as they had been for the past decade. She sat up in bed, blinking like an owl, and yawned. The two men had been too hard on her last night. She had forgotten the name of King Palencar's cousin twice removed's wife, so they made her repeat the names of the line of descendants traced down from mad old Palencar till King Orrin, the current ruler of Surda. She had only gotten back a few hours before sunrise. Her education had to be secret for fear of the Empire using her against Brom. Galbatorix might even force her to become a magician for him. She shook her head in distaste, to live in Urubaen would prove to be disastrous for her.

Her line of thought was disturbed by Roran's voice which emanated through the door, "Come out already, we have to finish harvesting the squash today". Knowing that there wasn't a choice, she slowly slid out of her bed, dragging the blankets with her, onto the cold wooden floor, the large sapphire around her neck weighing down.

It had been a gift from Brom after the incident in the woods. The unfortunate urgal now had its horns up in Morn's tavern, which was where the men who had found it later the next morning had decided to put it up. They had even told the village it had been them who had slain it and were now revered as heroes by the people of the village. She wished she could have told the villagers it had been her who had killed the creature, for the winters might have been warmer, the bedding fluffier and food more abundant. They didn't starve, far from that, but the winters were harsh, and food was hard to come by at times. The men wanted meat too, not to fill their stomachs, the land could support them, but because it was a social status. Though this disgusted her and prevented her from eating meat in good consience, she still had to for it would seem strange if she were to give up eating meat.

Shivering, she made her way to the wash stand by the window in her room and splashed her face with the freezing water. She could have heated the water if she had wanted to using magic, but didn't feel the need to. She looked up at the looking glass and her eyes met two soft, yet intense brown almond shaped slightly, wiped her face on a cloth hanging next to the looking glass, dressed and headed out of her room and towards the dining room.

She wasn't shocked when she saw Eragon sitting at the table eating chicken for she had felt his presence the night before and Brom had told her what had haappened in the village. Despite the numerous times she had told him not to, the old man continued to stalk Eragon throughout the village.

Between bites of the chicken, Eragon recounted his tale of what had happened in the woods. Not having heard of his part of the story, she listened with interest as a normal day hunting deerturned into that of a discovery and a stone. Of the stone, Brom ha only told her that it was big, blue, and that Eragon had attempted to trade it with Sloan, the butcher, in exchange for meat. Curious to see what it looked like, she asked him, "And can we see this noteworthy stone of yours now Eragon?" At first, he seemed to shy away from the idea of bringing it out, but when Roran joined in and wanted to see it too, Eragon slowly got up, went to his room, and brought out a large, sapphire stone with him. The stone was beautiful. Veins of white sprawled across a sapphire blue she had only seen in a certain place, Brom's memories of his Saphira. She stared at the stone, frozen with shock. _So the stories of old really are true..._

**X o X o X o X o**

She hurtled through the blizzard, brown eyes half closed trying to keep the snow out of her eyes; Isabel made her way to Brom's house. It was near a fringe of the forest, as she thought to be suitable for such a vague character. _Not to me though, no, never vague to me. I've known him long enough to understand him perfectly….maybe..._ Never had she thought this predicament would come to take place. It was a rather desperate situation now, almost two weeks had gone by since Eragon had come back from his hunting trip with that dragon egg and it already had thoughts of hatching. She knew this egg was going to destroy the life she had built for herself with the help of Brom, bit by bit, piece by piece. It wouldn't take long for the Empire to track down the egg, and if it hatched the chances of it not finding the dragon grew only slimmer. _After all, there's only so long you can hide a dragon in a forest…_

She felt herself passing Gertrude's house. It was dark and her feet were cold, but she had to keep going, for Eragon, for algaeisia. The time seemed to fly by and she was soon at Brom's doorstep. She banged on the door, but no one answered. Frustrated, she tried again and this time she could hear the shuffling of feet inside the house. The door opened and Brom's face came into view, "What is it? There's a blizzard going on, how did you come? You're not supposed," She held up a hand to stem his flow of words. "We are in a very tight spot Brom, the egg might hatch."

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

"And when exactly did you notice this?" Brom's voice was quiet, as though he expected Aren itself to hatch open like the egg soon would. "Today, just before breakfast. I would have come earlier if not for the fact that everyone was awake throughout the day" said Isabel, taking a sip of her warm tea. She had arrived but an hour ago and since then, Brom had asked her everything about the stone, from what she thought Eragon thought about it to who all had come in contact with it. Though the volley of questions had been tiring, she saw the need to ask these questions. The only question related to the egg now was who it would hatch for, and who would bear the gwedey ignasia which would ultimately decide who the Empire would come after.

Isabel looked at Brom; he seemed to be deep in thought and sad in a rather strange way. The fire crackled, distracting her, and she looked at it, almost as if she believed she could will it into silence. I returned her glare evenly, when looked at closely, the flames almost resembled large bones she remembered having seen somewhere before…..somewhere…

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

Isabel woke up with a start. She had been having the wildest of dreams of a ship, large, graceful and elegant, sailing across the sea, against enormous waves and lashing rain. There, far away was visible a shore where amassed large hoards of people. To any other, it would have seemed that the people had been expecting the ship, but Isabel had felt sadness and despair hanging over the crowds. A deep sadness that echoed silently in her heart.

Brom grunted and she looked up at him, expectant, "About time, you've been sleeping for almost an hour now." "And you didn't wake me up?", "There was no need to." He said, rather simply. Isabel rolled her eyes and continued, "Do you have a plan of action yet? Or should I contact Oromis and ask him to come up with one?""Don't doubt your father girl, I do have a plan of action and-"Isabel cut him off, "So should I contact him and ask his opinion on it?"Brom sighed and flung his hands up, towards the ceiling, silently cursing, "Please stop interrupting me and let me speak Isabel. You don't need to talk to Oromis because it was the two of us who came up with the plan."

Isabel, knowing interrupting the old man again would push him too far, kept silent and nodded, signaling him to continue. "Here is the plan. You must follow it as closely as possible and put everything you have been taught to use. It will be rather challenging but you mustn't fear anything, or anyone. You may have to go off course and do whatever you deem fit, keeping all of your lessons in mind. When the egg hatches, I want you to…

**And thats the short piece of crap I was talking about. See? It's crappy isn't it? So go ahead and review o n the crappiness of it or ur a Dweeb. Don't worry, it was just this chapter, I'll try and not make the next one as bad as this. The next chapter (which I will upload when I have 5+ reviews) is gonna be totally spicy.**

**REVIEW!**

**signing off of this piece of crap,**

**Yours sincerely, **

**Pluto lover 606**

**lollz XDDD**


	3. Chapter 2: Taking Leave

**Heloo again ppl! I know u thought I'd given up and wouldn't publish nemore, even I thought I would. i was out there doing some _self realization_. But here I am again wid chapter 2! Now then, turns out majority of u ppl r DWEEBS ( yes, I still remember I threatened you) so I'm gonna stop asking u all to review nemore. I really have nothin much to say so why dont u just go ahead and start..**

**DISCLAIMER: Im not gonna type it all again so y dont u just go to chap. 1 nd read it again.**

**Chapter 2: Taking Leave**

Isabel looked about the house for things they could sell. It had been eight days and the traders hadn't arrived yet, and she doubted they would with conditions this bad. She hoped they would turn up as there was a faint chance the merchant Merlock would buy the egg, though he wouldn't find any buyers nearby._ And probably be burned to death when the Empire finds it with him_, she thought, grim. She passed Eragon's room and peeped inside, the egg was there on Eragon's shelf of 'interesting' things. A gnarled root and various shiny stones gave the breathtakingly blue egg company. Under any normal circumstances, she would have felt respect and affection for it, but at the moment, she resented it for destroying her's, and everyone else's lives in Palancar valley. Not yet, no, the egg had done nothing, but soon, so soon, it would hatch, and the Empire would come, no matter what.

She thought back to how much Sloan had offered Eragon for the stone, three crowns. From her perspective, and several others she was sure, the egg was worth half the Empire, and it seemed rather ironic for someone to give such a miserly offer for a creature so exquisite. At the very least, even a person who did not know what it was would offer an extremely high price for it for it was beautiful.

She went to the dining room, where on the table was a small pile of things they might be able to trade with the villagers for supplies.

She made a few of her own additions to it, an old dress of Marians' she had found and convinced Garrow to sell and a few extra blankets, she excepted her sapphire from it for though it would fetch a good price in the market, the men would want to know where she got it from. Also, it was a family heirloom of Brom's and he would be furious with her if she was to sell it, he came from a family of enlighteners and in Kausta and his parents, when giving him the pendant, had told him it was enchanted. He had believed them, but after joining the riders, he had stopped believing the family myth. To make sure, he had even checked the stone multiple times for any enchantments placed on the stone, but had found none.

She spent the rest of the day looking for other things they might be able to sell and glaring at the egg whenever she passed Eragon's room. In the evening Eragon went again to check whether the traders had arrived yet and found deep ruts cut into the snow along with numerous hoof prints. Isabel saw him running back to the house, whooping for joy, and the mood of the house considerably lightened.

They left for the village early the next morning. Garrow fastened a leather pouch with the year's money in it to his belt and Eragon carefully wrapped the egg in a cloth before setting it down between bags of grain to stop it from rolling. Isabel had offered to hold it for him but he seemed not to trust her with it after having caught her throwing dirty looks at the egg yesterday.

She contacted Brom,"_We're leaving for Carvahall.","Good, by when will you be here?_" came his faint reply, the man was growing old, "_We should be there by noon if all goes well."_

_"Come meet me then."_

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

Albriech stood in front of the trader Merlock's booth. He specialized in odd trinkets and jewelry and Albriech had his eye on a silver rose. It was delicately carved and beautiful and he meant to buy it but a party of women blocked his way. So he politely waited for them to finish buying whatever they wanted and hoped the rose wouldn't catch their eye. Luckily for him, it didn't and once they left he went ahead and bought it. As he pocketed the trifle, he turned around to look for the person for whom it was meant. She was sitting a little away from the crowd on the edge of a porch near Morn's Tavern, having a bit of candy with her brother.

Albriech walked towards them and called out but their attention seemed to be elsewhere. He followed their gaze and saw Sloan. Eragon then ducked into the Tavern and he returned his attention to Isabel. He called out again and she heard him this time and looked at him, smiling. Albriech walked towards her, grinning foolishly. "I was looking for you." he said as soon as he reached her, "I noticed.". He extended a hand to help her up and she took, dusting a few snowflakes from her lap. It was snowing lightly.

They walked together in comfortable silence. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She walked gracefully, with carefully measured steps, her brown hair gently blowing behind her as a gentle breeze blew in the opposite direction. Her eyes seemed to be distant, glazed over by the thin film of thought. He treasured that moment, for she looked beautiful just then, walking beside him. He knew he was lucky to have her love him. Even though she wouldn't be of age for another five months, other men had courted her too but only he had been lucky enough to catch her eye.

They turned into an alley and she gave him a questioning look. "I want to give you something", he answered, "And so you drag me into an alley? What's so special Albriech?", "This is.", he replied, taking out the rose he had bought from Merlock not long ago. He held it out in the palm of his hand. Her eyes softened and an appraising smile stretched her lips, "It's beautiful". She looked up and held him with her steady gaze, "You bought this for me? Thank you,", reaching up on her tip toes, she gently kissed him on the cheek, "it means a lot to me.", before picking it up and holding it in her own palm. She examined it carefully before dropping it into her coat pocket.

He had to tell her now..,"I'm leaving next spring". "Why?" she sounded confused, "I plan to go to Feinster to become a master smith, I'll only be back by winter.". She pouted, "No, I don't want you to go." "Try to understand Isabel, by the time I come back you'll be of age, I can start my own smithy and we can marry." As he said the words Albriech felt a wave of satisfaction roll over him. He had played this moment over and over in his head for the past month and it had played out perfectly now.

"Oh..." Something flashed in Isabel's eyes; He wasn't sure what it was but knew something was wrong. "What's wrong? You don't seem to be happy. Is everything alright?" Now it was his turn to be confused. Over the past few months she had seemed to be happy, but now he had ruined that. "Nothing's wrong Albriech and I am happy, just a little tired." his brow furrowed with concern he said, "Did you think of seeing Gertrude?". She sighed "I'm not dying you know, I'm just cold and hungry right now. How about we go and have supper?"

Albriech felt the corner of his mouth rise up in a smile. "We should be on our way then or we'll be late."

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

Isabel picked at her food at Horst's that night. About an hour ago she had been ravenous but now, after her conversation with Albriech, her guilt overran her hunger making her lose her appetite. She still had to meet Brom, he would be furious she hadn't come to him the moment they reached but Garrow and Eragon had taken her with them to Merlock. She had seen him test the stone to find out it's worth to no avail for almost an hour, all the while trying to convince herself that it would be wrong to blackmail the merchant into taking the stone with him so that she could delay the her own doom by a few more months.

She could feel Albriech's eyes bearing down on her; almost feel the concern that emanated from them. He was an honest and gentle man and she already regretted what she was about to do to him soon enough. The guilt returned to her in terrifying, rolling waves and she felt like she was going to throw up. So, to not only calm down but also to escape Albriech's gaze, she excused herself, saying something about fresh air. She could only hope that he wouldn't follow her.

She was lucky; he didn't come after her out into the snow and made her way to Brom's house as inconspicuously as possible.

She knew he was home from the light in his window and the feel of his consciousness. When she knocked on his door it opened almost immediately. He shot her an angry look; "You're late." was the only greeting she received from the grumpy old man. "I know I am. I would have come earlier but I was… busy", she concluded, "Now are you going to let me in or not? It's cold out here." Brom's expression softened by a fraction and he let her in.

She walked past him to the fire place where he had a cheery fire burning and sat in a chair in front of it, warming her numb fingers. "What took you so long?" he asked her, "Garrow and Eragon took me with them to Merlock as they tried to sell the egg and then I was with Albriech", she said rather simply, making her feel a little stupid. "How is it?" at her questioning look he added, "The egg I mean." a bitter tone crept into her voice, "The egg is perfectly fine. It should hatch soon, two days at the most."

Brom nodded, "It's your duty to inform me when it hatches and who it hatches for. Is that understood?" "Yes Brom." She refused to call him father. It seemed wrong to do so, she didn't know why but it just didn't _feel_ right. "I have to go now. The troubadours will begin to perform soon and I can't be late." Isabel took the hint and stood up. For once, she couldn't wait to go back home.

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

Isabel woke up with a start. A soft moan emanated from the room next to her's. From Eragon's room.

Getting out of bed, she quietly crept down the corridor. Eragon's door was open and she peeped into

her brother's room. Eragon lay on the bed, his left hand cradling his right, which had a silvery mark on it. The Gwedey Ignasia. Next to him, a small blue dragon sat on it's haunches. It looked at her with ice blue eyes, almost freezing her in place. _And so it begins…. _She thought as she walked back to her room. She would tell Brom tomorrow, but now she would sleep.

**Yup thats it! Hope u enjoyed. R& R if u want. Id like that. **

**PL 606.**


	4. Chapter 3 : Pieces

__**Fourth chapters finally out! Go on, read it. Sorry for the delay..there were a few.. Issues. Anyway, here it is! I had no idea what to name it so *shrugs*. Meh.. **

**Chapter 3: Pieces**

Isabel looked around the kitchen warily. No one was about so she warily picked up her coat from where it was kept at the table and left, shutting the door behind herself quietly. Stepping outside, she took a deep breath of the crisp winter air and let herself slowly relax.

The past few months had been tense and agonizing. Waiting for the Empire to show up and take Eragon and his dragon with them had been...boring almost. _No, that came out wrong..._ It had. She didn't want her brother to go away but after living under constant stress for months, anyone would start to wish for something to happen.

She sighed quietly and walked into the woods, the only place she could truly feel at home.

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

That evening,while they were eating dinner, her wish came true. Something interesting did happen, and the news came from Roran. " I was offered a job a Therinsford's mill...which I plan to take"

Isabel and Garrow just looked at him in surprise for a moment. Judging from the way Eragon was looking at the two of them, he had already heard this piece of news. Slowly getting over her shock Isabel looked from Roran, who was looking at his father expectantly, to her uncle. Garrow had put down his fork carefully and was chewing slowly. After a moment, he swallowed and looked Roran in the eyes. "Why?"

Roran looked at his father for a moment longer and then set off to explain how he wanted to ho there to earn enough money to marry Katrina. He said that Sloan would never accept him as he was now and that Katrina meant the world to him.

Isabel just sat there quietly, drinking it all in. She knew she was supposed to be happy. Happy that Roran had found a new job, was foing to get himself a new life, was going to be happy with a wife and soon, children. But all she felt was envy. There was a small part of a brain happy for him, but with the rest of it screaming in protest. Screaming at him because he could have what she could not, a happy, normal life.

If only she could somehow escape from all of this, escape and find peace and quiet in some small corner of the world. Maybe tomorrow she would go to Brom. Tell him that she had had enough of him and his little plan that she was not capable of any such thing as- _Stop. Right now. You, young lady, will do no such thing. You are brave and you can do this. You know_ it. She silently scolded herself. _Thoughts like these are for the weak-willed. Not yourself . _

Something nudged her foot under the table and she looked up, into Eragon's eyes. She must have spaced out. She gave him a small nod. They would meet later.

Garrow meanwhile, had deliberated long enough. "When do you leave?" Roran was surprised, she could feel his astonishment like a small blow against her wall. This man, he was a little too open with his emotions sometimes. "What?! you'll let me go?" Eragon shot up at the same time- "You can't be serious! You're just letting him go?", he looked to her for support but Isabel just shrugged and told them what she thought. "If he wants to go we should let him Eragon. It's his future, he should have a right to make it himself." _Instead of having his life chosen for him. _Her brother just looked at her in disbeleif,"Isabel, you can't possibly be serious! We need him here!" "No we don't Eragon an you know it. We can manage without him and besides, you don't need him here you want him here. You're being selfish and you know it." she snapped at him but regretted it immediately. She shouldn't have but it was too late now, the words were already out from her mouth.

In return Eragon just glared at her and muttered something under his breath. She was sure she caught the words 'pigheaded' and 'self righteous'. Isabel just rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long two weeks...

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

The two weeks did pass slowly and Isabel literally dragged herself through them. The house had slowly begun to feel emptier, with small things being carefully wrapped and packed into Roran's pack. Depression hung over the house. Nobody seemed to be wanting to talk about anything anymore, not even Eragon who was gone nowadays more often than not to go meet his beloved dragon. Slowly Isabel found herself in her clearing more often now that the house was almost...suffocating to her. There seemed to be nothing in the house anymore...just emptiness wrapping itself around her, choking her, till she could no longer breathe and had to go out. Then the binds would loosen and a weight would lift off her chest, allowing her to breathe again.

It was the evening before Roran was leaving that Isabel found herself in hes clearing once again. Thats when she heard it. Laughter, gruff and loud, coming from some distance away. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had gotten up and was slowly walking towards it, years of practice making her feet soft and light on the snow. She made no sound as she walked towards the sound, a hunter hunting her prey. After crossing a few clearings, when she was quite close to the Anora river, through the branches of trees she saw the glow of a fire. Around it sat men in armour,eating what smelt like stew, with the insignia of the Empire stitched onto their tunics with gold thread._ So they had come after all..._

Behind them were their tents. But there was one that stood a little away from the others, a slightly larger one. As she watched, a dark, humped figure emerged from it and the clearing went quiet. Even the soldiers watched the figure with apparent dread. She knew what it was from the memories she had seen in Brom's mind...the Ra'zac were here.

She stood still as a statue, breathing very slowly. She knew she should be running in the opposite direction, but something, whether it was fear or curiosity she would never know, kept her frozen in her place. The creature walked towards the men who visibly shrank back away from it, and in a raspy, hoarse voice said : "Tomorrow we sshall leave and ssummon you if we need you. Be awake at the break of dawn" It then pointed at one soldier " You, come with mee..". It then began to turn away and Isabel, releived, let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

She regretted it the moment she realised what she had done, for the Ra'zac whipped back around and looked straight at her for what seemed to be the longest moment in her life. Isabel stared into it's cowl and held her breath, not daring to move a muscle. Seconds ticked by. Then finally, just when she was running out of breath it turned back, hissing and clicking, and began to walk, if you could call it that, back to it's tent. She made sure it and the soldier who had followed suit had disappeared into the dark tent before she dared breathe again and quietly walked back to the farm, making sure she hid her tracks using magic.

On reaching home, she contacted Brom.

_They're here! Brom! They've come for Eragon! _

_Who came? Was it Durza? _

_No...the Ra'zac..._

He swore.._ Are you sure? What happened?_

She proceeded to tell him everything that had occured that evening, not leaving out a single detail.

Once she was done there was silence and then a faint reply_, Come meet me tomorrow when you come to bid Roran goodbye.._

She had told him about that the day she found out.

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

The next morning the three of them stood in front of Garrow, who gave Roran his blessing along with a small bag of money. After giving them a few pieces of advice, they walked along the path to the village, with Garrow looking at them till they were out of sight. Looking, for the last time it seemed, at the three children he had raised to be his own. When he could no longer see them he walked back into the house and sighed. He was growing old, and soon would be the only one living in this house that would be too big for just one man alone.

Garrow walked through the house, reminiscing over old memories. How he and Marian had raised their three children till the fever had taken her away from them that night. Eragon and Isabel were not his children, but as his father had said, family is not blood, they have to earn it, and he felt that they were his for he had raised them and made them who they are now.

There was a knock on the door, surprising Garrow out of his thoughts. It was too early for the children to be back. He peeped out of the window and saw two hunched figures standing in front of the door, the insignia of the Empire stitched onto their cloaks. It would be a very bad idea not to open the door and besides, what had he done to bring down the wrath of the Empire on him? He went up to the door and opened it cautiously. The thing in front of him hissed three words : "Where iss hee", before the world began to burn around Garrow.

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

****The smithy doors were open when they reached, heat and light pouring out. Albreich and Baldor were there, working away on the iron. Isabel'smuscles clenched when she remembered what had happened the previous time they had talked. The silver rose he had given her was tucked safely in her pocket where she had put it last time, now cold against her skin as if reminding her of it's presence, that she should not, could not forget what had happened no matter what.

Now she greeted him with a small smile while the boys talked to the man who had hired Roran, Dempton. She heard him say that they would be leaving within the hour and she and Eragon excused themselves as he began to explain to Roran exactly how a mill works. Horst pulled Eragon aside and Isabel, not ready to face Albreich yet, excused herself once again to go meet Brom.

She was halfway there when she saw him walking towards her. The greeted each other with nods. "You know what to do."

"Are you sure about this Brom? I feel as if I can't..." she trailed off

"I know you can do this. You were born for this."

"Then I have no other choice do I. Goodbye Brom...Don't die on me."

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" he smiled at her and she returned his smilew.

"I guess I should be on my way then.." Congratulations Isabel, you didn't break down and cry in the middle of the road. Now go and doom yourself. That voice in her head was so..Selfish, but true. She didn't want to do this, but had to...for Eragon.

**X.o.X.o.X.o.**

Isabel approached the farm, and was glad that it had not yet erupted in flames. She approached the door, sure that everything was still the same, before a hoarse shout made told her otherwise. She burst into the house, years of training making it feel like nothing in front of her. What she saw inside turned her blood to flames in her as Garrow lay on the wooden floor, gray with burns on him everywhere, a sickly swet smell clung to him. Above him stood two dark, humped creatures. Ra'zac.

With a cry she flew onto the first one, her dagger in hand. It easily leaped away from her and she landed on the floor with a thud. The other one reared it's boot to kick her but she rolled away, and into Garrow. A little bit of fluid touched the back of her neck and she cried out in pain. It burned. Siethr Oil.

y"Deloi sharjalví!". The mud below all the snow heaped onto the two Ra'zac, slowing them down for a few minutes. She knelt down on the floor, not caring that drops of the oil seeped into her clothes, burning her skin, and shook Garrow by the shoulders. "Garrow, can you stand? We have to leave _now_!" when he didn't respond she gave up and tried to drag himout of the door. The Ra'zac had begun to emerge from their mounds of mud. She haD almost dragged him to the table when the first one freed itself. It approached her and drew it's sword. Where was Eragon?! He should have been home by now..

Isabel left Garrow and pressed her mouth into a hard line while and considered her options. She could use a death word but they were probably protected against those...or she could fight. But with what? She had lost her knife when she had fallen and now had nothing. she looked around for something she might be able to use but found nothing. There was nothing left to do but run, divert their attention from Garrow. So she dashed through the door, knowing that it was hopeless, that they would both follow her. And she was right, even as she had run only a few yards, blinding pain spread through the back of her head and she turned around, looking straight into the cowl of the monster, into it's beady black eyes before she finally gave in to the blackness and let it swallow her completely.

**Huzzah! It's over! Yipee! Cmon people RR! I need some motivation to continue here!**

**OF**


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